recycling 1/5 year old, untreated fuel

[dingbat]

I finally got around to draining my reserve tank 2 weeks ago. Now I'm stuck with ~40 gallons of 1.5 year old untreated gas.

Can I burn it in the car? Any special precautions? Will it damage the engine?

 

[Another retired guy]

Re: recycling 1/5 year old, untreated fuel

I had the same problem recently. I filtered the gas through a cloth to remove any bits, and added approx 3 gals to the car tank just before each fill up. Figured that if it was bad it wouldn't matter when mixed with a full tank of fresh gas. It worked fine - no problems

 

[hall832]

Re: recycling 1/5 year old, untreated fuel

how does it smell?

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: recycling 1/5 year old, untreated fuel

How could a fellow with almost 7000 posts here not have seen lots an lots of "old gas" threads... you're a few months early for an april fools joke......

 

[Texasmark]

Re: recycling 1/5 year old, untreated fuel

Agree with add some to your tank and maybe throw in some Sea Foam along the way.

Mark

 

[crabby captain john]

Re: recycling 1/5 year old, untreated fuel

Gas mileage sux but no problem with a 50/50 mix in the truck.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: recycling 1/5 year old, untreated fuel

Yes I noticed.

 

[T_Herrod]

Re: recycling 1/5 year old, untreated fuel

If the gas smells like varnish or has a weird color to it contact your local landfill to find out how to dispose of it. If it has not gone bad yet simply mix it in with your car when you fill the tank.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: recycling 1/5 year old, untreated fuel

If you have the choice, run it in an older vehicle rather than one with complicated sensors, etc. But don't run it in a small engine such as a lawnmower (the guys from the frozen North will say they do, but there is a difference in fuel survival there.)

 

[Brian 26]

Re: recycling 1/5 year old, untreated fuel

If it's gone bad as others have said it can clog your catalytic converter.

 

[dingbat]

Re: recycling 1/5 year old, untreated fuel

How could a fellow with almost 7000 posts here not have seen lots an lots of "old gas" threads... you're a few months early for an april fools joke......

Well, I looked at a number of old threads and got mostly hear say and opinions based on anecdotal evidence worth exactly what I paid for them....nothing. Some of the responses where actually quite a amusing in the fact that they actually believed some of the stuff they where writing.

I was hoping someone had actually burned 1.5 year old fuel and would share their experience.

Update: I've actually burned most of the fuel (two tanks in the Civic and 1.5 tanks in the Accord). So far, no noticeable deterioration in performance. Fuel mileage figures coming.

 

[matt167]

Re: recycling 1/5 year old, untreated fuel

I put approx 5-8 year old fuel from my 1951 Chevy into cans for the lawnmowers. It was non ethanol fuel but smelled stale, and it ran just fine... My dad pumped about 20 gallons of 2-3 year old fuel out of the main tank from his old boat and put 5 gallons into his 1972 C10 ( 350 Chevy/ Qjet ) and the rest was put into cans and used for his lawn mower and had almost enough gas for the season, his mower used as much oil as gas, but it ran just fine if it was kept full of oil.

 

[AChotrod]

Re: recycling 1/5 year old, untreated fuel

I run old gas all the time, from snowmobiles, race car, dirt bikes etc in my DDs and never had a issue. If theres no water in it I would def use it and have 0 worries. Heck half the time I dont even use any fuel treatment in it and in 35yrs I have not noticed anything.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: recycling 1/5 year old, untreated fuel

Well, I looked at a number of old threads and got mostly hear say and opinions based on anecdotal evidence worth exactly what I paid for them....nothing. Some of the responses where actually quite a amusing in the fact that they actually believed some of the stuff they where writing.

I was hoping someone had actually burned 1.5 year old fuel and would share their experience.

Update: I've actually burned most of the fuel (two tanks in the Civic and 1.5 tanks in the Accord). So far, no noticeable deterioration in performance. Fuel mileage figures coming.

You won't get anything useful from this or any other thread about the condition of YOUR gas..... I've personally burned gas older than that in a boat and been fine and I've seen gas fresher than that be bad.... the simple truth is that it's safest to dispose of it but it's totally up to you to make a judgement call to use it based on the highly scientific method we all use of "well, I think it smells ok... n looks to be about the right color.... Hey joe, tell me if this gas smells ok to you"

 

[26aftcab454]

Re: recycling 1/5 year old, untreated fuel

. Hey joe, tell me if this gas smells ok to you"

Awh man-- when huffing Old Gas I see Colors...:joyous:
Joe

 

[fishrdan]

Re: recycling 1/5 year old, untreated fuel

I finally got around to draining my reserve tank 2 weeks ago. Now I'm stuck with ~40 gallons of 1.5 year old untreated gas.

Why don't you cycle between the main and reserve tank, to keep both tanks full of relatively fresh fuel and make sure all systems are functional?

(Not that I've ever had a reserve tank, just seems to make sense to swap-forth to keep everything in top shape.)

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: recycling 1/5 year old, untreated fuel

Awh man-- when huffing Old Gas I see Colors...:joyous:
Joe

That's why I didn't ask you if it LOOKED ok ROFLMAO

 

[Jim Hawkins]

Re: recycling 1/5 year old, untreated fuel

I never hesitate to burn old gas in my truck OR boat.

I put it through a filter to screen for sediment and pour it into clear containers to settle and check for water.

No water, no sediment and I'll burn it in anything. I even put mixed 2 cycle fuel in my truck. In moderation of course.

 

[limitout]

Re: recycling 1/5 year old, untreated fuel

I wouldn't risk it in the boat but your truck or lawn mower it will work just fine as long as you run it thru a filter first and add about 1 gallon fresh gas to 3-4 gallons old gas.

I would also throw out the last gallon or two at the bottom in case of water and such so I put that along the fence to kill weeds or use on ant hills

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: recycling 1/5 year old, untreated fuel

I don't like to burn old gas in anything that could leave me stranded in the middle of nowhere.....